


When I see you again

by svevijah



Series: Future Starts Slow. [9]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, Lila and Kate are Strike Team Delta 2.0, time travel gone angsty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-23
Updated: 2019-05-23
Packaged: 2020-03-13 06:46:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18935575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/svevijah/pseuds/svevijah
Summary: “You look an awful lot like her.” Clint chimed in, hand clenched in a fist and rested under his chin. Lila smiled warmly, mimicking his position. “Sassiness and bad luck are all yours though.”“She’s the alpha sibling, I knew she’d be the alpha sibling, Cooper is too shy and calm to deliver like this.” Natasha declared, expressively pointing at Lila. “She’s a handful indeed, I told you that too.”





	When I see you again

**Author's Note:**

> Fury's new small organization leads to our girls going on a dangerous quest back in time. Time travel has been figured in 2023 so I guess it wouldn't be a stretch for heroes to use it if needed? I don't know, this is just for the tears. Kate and Lila's weapon of choice end up being a bow for both, except Lila switches with guns and knives/daggers. Their suits are very similar to Natasha's suit in WS, except Kate's color tends to be more of a dark violet while Lila's completely dark as an homage to Nat.  
> I wrote this fic while listening to "Mess Is Mine" by Vance Joy, that while doesn't really fit with its lyrics, the melody really helped me to get into the sense of nostalgia Lila has while being with past Clint and Nat.

“Alright girls,” Fury called out firmly, causing Lila and Kate to straighten on their seats “according to the plan agent Hill and I set, we will send you back in 2004 to retrieve the copy of a folder in my office.”

“Why do we have to go back in time? Don’t you have another copy?” Kate pointed out and Fury shook his head. “Most of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s files have been destroyed during its various… downfalls.”

Lila stayed silent, her eyes narrowed and her mind wandering. Twenty-one years before, if it was early 2004, she wasn’t even born. Her mom and dad still lived in Brooklyn with Cooper and auntie Nat would drop by every moment she could, and she would have been in the picture a months later, after the mission in Budapest involving the original _Strike Team Delta_.

“2004 it’s awfully far in time.”

“It’s good actually.” Lila remarked quickly, still deep in thoughts. “We won’t risk seeing our past selves since there won’t be any infants in the building.”

Agent Hill stepped in with a stern expression on her face, although her eyes seemed to be lost in thoughts of worry. Putting two watches on the desk, she gestured at them and cleared her throat. “Courtesy of Stark Industries associated with Miss Udaku, these watches will help you not only synchronize your time to come back in the present, but also to communicate, project maps, scan areas and summon a holographic shield if needed. Your weapons attend by the time travel platform.”

“Is there anything else we should know? Like… what does the folder look like or things like this?” Kate asked as she stood up.

“Further information are already stored in the watches. Please be safe and avoid communications with anybody around you.”

Lila and Kate nodded curtly and once they walked out the office, Lila let out a loud sigh. “You okay?” Kate asked and she nodded absent minded-ly. “You don’t really like this time travel thing uh?”

“I would have loved it under different circumstances.” Lila let out in a whisper, pacing fast towards the room where the travel platform had been set.

“Do you think we’ll meet someone we know?” Kate asked suddenly, a bit of excitement in her voice. Lila shrugged lightly as she picked up her bow and quiver. “Dad surely will be there. I don’t know if Nat was already that high in clearance level but she might be around too. Mom should have already left considering Coop should be three.”

As the technicians set the machine, Lila and Kate positioned in the middle of the platform, waiting for the machine to start up. “Three, two, one, good luck girls!” and in the blink of an eye they were standing in the alley of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s very first building.

 

____________________

 

“Alright, let’s open this map and try to understand where Fury’s office is.” Kate declared hitting her watch a couple of times in the hope it would turn on. “I’ll get inside and you stay out to avoid anybody to get in while I look for the folder.”

“Why do I have to stay outside?”

“Because you know most of these people and if something happens you can easily gain their trust.”

“Fair point.”

As they walked along the corridors, chin held high and gaze discretely darting from one door to the other in the hope to gain enough credibility to not be asked questions or to be cleared. “It’s this one.” Kate declared in a whisper as she knocked to check if somebody was inside. As no answer was given, she opened the door lightly and found the lights off.

“Alright I’m getting in.”

“Make it quick.”

As the door closed, Lila turned to give it her back and began fumbling with the watch to set the quickest route to get in a place where nobody would have noticed two girls vanishing in thin air.

“Hey you!” a raspy voice called out, and Lila didn’t even need to tilt her head up to know who that person was. Natasha Romanoff was standing in the corridor, red curls dropped on her shoulders making her look even younger than she actually was. Her suit was different and dark blue. “Barton what the fuck!” she yelled and a noise came from the vents. Tilting her head up to the ceiling, Lila noticed an athletic figure jumping off with a flip. His sandy blonde hair was long on the front and covered his face as he landed on the floor.

_( Are you through? Dad and Nat are outside! )_

_( I can’t find it! There are tons of folders about alternate dimensions here )_

_( That’s what Fury’s looking for? )_

_( Seems so. Can you distracts them? )_

_( Sure )_

“I’ve been looking for you everywhere! Why where you up there now?” Natasha’s voice continued in the distance, and the more Lila would listen, the more her stomach would clench and twist in pain. She missed her so much.

“Laura said it’s a girl!” Clint bursted out, only to cover his mouth with

a hand as he looked around to see if anybody had heard him.

“Oh, she’s totally gonna be a handful, mark my words.” Natasha said in a knowingly tone, a playful smirk on her face to distract the attention from the fact that she was getting kind of emotional about it as well. Clint snorted rolling his eyes exaggeratedly, a wide smile on his face.

“So, are there any names yet?”

“No, but Fury demands to either have a namesake or a godchild.”

“Please don’t tell me you’re going to call your daughter _Fury Barton_ , it would be terrible for that poor child.”

As she listened to their conversation not so far from them, Lila couldn’t help but smile. In the end Fury actually ended up being both a namesake and a godfather, ironically.

“Not to be that bitch, but am I going solo in Budapest, then?” Natasha asked out of the blue, and Clint’s brows lined in a frown. “What? No, why?”

Natasha shrugged lightly. “I don’t know, I mean with Cooper you stayed around Laura for most of the pregnancy…”

“Reason why we’ll go to Budapest, do our job real nice and quick and come back to the family.” At his words, Natasha pursed her lips tight, giving him an uncertain look. Clint let out a loud sigh. “Jesus Christ Nat, you’re family too, I thought we had established this a couple years ago.”

Natasha’s face relaxed slightly, and a single tear rolled down her cheek. “Clint… it’s a girl.” She let out in a whisper, voice suddenly grown tired. “I’m not familiar with these situations and I will never be and I already know that if I ever get to see her even once I’ll love her forever and–“

“Good, ‘cause you’ll be her godmother.” Clint declared firmly “I mean you got away with it when Cooper was born but now you have no excuse, no other missions or bullshit, you come home and help us raise these kids. You’ll love _baby Fury_ forever? Good for her, she’ll love you back just as much.”

“Please don’t call her _baby Fury_ it’s awful and cursed, I don’t want to hear it ever again.” Natasha said in a fake scared voice, and Clint laughed at her.

“How about Wisteria Barton?”

“How about you just let Laura decide a name?” Natasha remarked in an annoyed tone, then turned her head to face the other side of the corridor. As her gaze met Lila’s, the brunette head tilted down, fingers quickly tapping on the side of her watch to send a message to Kate.

“Khalila.”

“What?” Clint asked caught off guard.

“Khalila.” Natasha repeated. “It means beloved.”

Clint seemed to be lost in thoughts for a while, then pulled out his phone and began typing. “Khalila Nicole Barton? Or maybe Nicole Khalila Barton? I’m gonna send both.” Natasha snorted.

_( Lils i can’t find it )_

_( What?! You have to! I think Nat’s suspecting something )_

_( Don’t be suspicious then! )_

_( I’m standing outside the director’s office door, how am I supposed to not be suspicious? )_

“Hey! Are you lost?” Natasha asked from the other side of the corridor, looking straight into Lila’s eyes. Taking a deep breath, Lila cursed under her breath and gave her a wide smile.

_( I’m moving away from the door )_

“Actually yes!” she replied politely, smile never fading from her lips. “I’m a trainee, I think I reached the wrong floor though, because I see no training room.”

Natasha narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms, giving the brunette a curious look. As she moved closer, Clint took a few steps ahead as well. “Aren’t you a bit too young to be a trainee?”

“Agent Natasha Romanoff became an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. in her early twenties, and so do I. “ she pointed out in a knowingly tone, causing Natasha to tilt her head in a firm nod. “She did. She also likes your suit. Who made it?”

“I did it myself, ma’am.”

Natasha looked more impressed than the expression on her face would let out. As her gaze moved to Lila’s bow, she let out a huff. “Oh no, another archer – Clint it seems that there’s somebody ready to give you a run for your money here.”

Clint gaze examined Lila’s bow curiously and his brows furrowed as he noticed her bow was even more advanced than his. “Where did you find that?”

“My father gave it to me as a gift for my birthday, sir.” She replied uncertainly. Clint raised a brow. “And that dagger?”

“Was my aunt’s.” a pause and she took a deep breath “She died two years ago, and demanded it to be given to me when the time was right.”

“This sounds like some bullshit you would do, Tasha!” Clint said half-jokingly and Natasha rolled her eyes, giving him a light push with her shoulder. Lila’s lips twitched in a small smile at the sight – years would pass by but that was really the proof that her dad and aunt might have grown up, but really were children at heart.

“What’s your name, kid?”

Lila’s eyes widened suddenly. Was she supposed to say another name? Could she say her name as long as her last name was not given away? Screw it. “My name’s Lila, sir.”

Clint and Natasha seemed to be caught off guard. As the archer opened his mouth to say something, Fury’s office door opened and Kate walked out with a loud huff. “Barton, I can’t find it, let’s switch pl–“ as she trailed off, silence fell in the corridor, and Kate muttered a curse under her breath.

 

____________________

 

“Let me get this straight,” Natasha said calmly as the four of them were sitting in an interrogation room. Clint kept looking at Lila like he was looking at a ghost, and Kate’s gaze was fixed on the watch in fear that they would miss the time to get back in the present. “your name is Lila Barton and you’re his daughter from the future?”

Lila nodded, unable to look at either of them. “And you’re and agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.?”

“I’m an agent of some sort, not really associated with any organization that you know.” She remarked vaguely, even though she was quite sure that her answer would have backfired terribly. “I’m sorry to be so vague but the less you know the better it is.”

“You look an awful lot like her.” Clint chimed in, hand clenched in a fist and rested under his chin. Lila smiled warmly, mimicking his position. “Sassiness and bad luck are all yours though.”

“She’s the alpha sibling, I knew she’d be the alpha sibling, Cooper is too shy and calm to deliver like this.” Natasha declared, expressively pointing at Lila. “She’s a handful indeed, I told you that too.”

“What I don’t understand – among other things too – is what are you and your friend doing here.” Clint pointed out sternly, and Kate cleared her throat, catching the archer and the redhead’s attention. “Director Fury gave us the task to retrieve the copy of a folder about experiments on interdimensional travels that were destroyed sometime in the future.” She explained quickly, trying to avoid any information that would chance the course of the events. “I couldn’t find it anywhere though.”

“Classified folders that also contain quite important information usually get put into a safe when Fury leaves for his trip in God knows where.” Natasha let out in a whisper, probably debating in her mind whether to say further information to these kids she just met or leave it like that.

“Well we need that folder. Like, now.” Kate bursted out, causing Clint and Natasha to narrow their eyes at her sudden outburst. Lila’s hands moved to reach Kate’s arm, and as she turned to face the brunette, Lila mouthed a _no_. “Dimensional travel is a real thing in our future and it has created a bunch of problems since we managed to travel back in time too.” Lila explained calmly “We need to find a way to stop these travels and restore each reality before something bad happens again.”

Clint and Natasha shared a worried look, then got up and gestured for Lila and Kate to do the same.

 

____________________

 

“You’re sixteen and do this shit? Did you drop out of school?” Clint asked in a worried tone and Lila shook her head no with a laugh. “I’m attending art school. I’d like to do something involving fine arts.”

“Really? Like what?”

“I don’t know yet but uhm, I can play instruments and paint and I know my way around ballet, so…” she trailed off and Clint’s arm stretch so that his hand could reach Natasha’s shoulder. “Oh God she studies ordinary things Tasha, she’ll be safe forever.”

“Clint,” Natasha began turning slightly to face him “your daughter studies at an art school but she’s still here in what is her past to retrieve something that the director of the organization for which we both work needs.” She said quickly, raising a brow thinking at her own statement. “You just have to hope Cooper actually stays away from this.”

“He’s actually studying at Culver University.” Lila chimed in, a pinch of pride in her voice “He wants to be an astronomer or something. He even works as inter for Doctor Jane Foster during the summers.”

Clint’s hands went to cup his face as he gasped in awe. “Nat my son is a genius.” He let out in a whisper. “My son. Is. A. Genius.” He repeated slowly, savouring every word with the proudest expression on his face.

“He wears his heart in his sleeves though, that’s his only flaw to be honest.” Kate remarked in a sarcastic tone, causing Lila to turn her head to face her with an annoyed expression on her face. “What? You always have to fight his battles, how many noses have you broken every time he’d get bullied?”

As silence fell on the group, Natasha cleared her throat. “How do you two know each other?”

“We’re roommates at the academy, I’m a multi-instrumentalist.” Kate declared proudly. “Lila made meet her family when they all reunited for… thanksgiving… and then Fury offered me a job as he found out that I’m good with the bow as well.”

Clint nodded, continuing to ask Kate questions about her archery routines as Lila walked over to follow Natasha in the office. The redhead looked over at her and gave her a small smile as she reached for the Fury’s safe under a painting. “I’d tell you to turn around, but seeing the code might help you for future references.”

Lila mouthed a thank you and stood by, carefully watching Natasha’s moves. In this time, she probably was the age Lila would have been if she wasn’t dusted, if Thanos never snapped his fingers, if her auntie Nat never died. As the woman began looking among the folders, a concentrated expression appeared on her face, and it reminded Lila of when she and her brothers would play in the sunroom and Nat would do crosswords, questioning suggestions from them every now and them as an exercise to widen their vocabulary.

“Here it is!” she exclaimed once she found the second copy of the folder. “There’s a lot of mess in that safe, you would think Fury’s a bit more organized than this.” She gestured vaguely as she handed the folder to Lila and locked back the safe.

“Thank you, auntie Nat, you literally saved my life today.” Lila let out in a whisper and Natasha flinched lightly. “No worries kid, just tell Fury not to send my niece doing dirty jobs next time.”

The brunette laughed, turning to Kate and waving the folder near her face. “Time to go home I guess.” She declared half happy and half sad, and Kate didn’t really have to ask her the reason behind that sudden change of mood in her voice.

“Alright kid, before you go, let me give you a hug.” Clint said sniffing lightly, causing Lila to roll her eyes just like she would do with the Clint from her present. “Dad, we’re gonna see each other again in… how many months is mom pregnant?”

“Three.” Clint replied, voice muffled by the fabric of Lila’s suit that was covering his mouth. “Good, then see you in six months!” Lila said cheerfully, shrugging at Clint’s comment about her being almost as tall as him and being only sixteen. As she turned to face Natasha, Lila’s heart ached.

That was her last chance to say goodbye – she was goodbye to a past version of her aunt, somebody who didn’t realize yet how much she was valued, trusted, loved and cherished.

“Can I give you a hug?” they both asked and laughed it off as they embraced each other.

“I wish we could spend more time, you seem the type of adorable I could adjusted with.” Natasha whispered and Lila bursted in silent tears. “I wish that too.” She let out “Maybe another time.”

As Natasha began pulling away, Lila pulled her back in, hugging her as tight as she could, Natasha winced but let her anyway. “I’m sorry and I love you. I wouldn’t be half the person I am now if it wasn’t for you too. You were my hero and I’ll love you forever.” She whispered in the redhead’s ear, causing her to pull away with a confused look and an unsaid question on her lips.

Walking closer to Kate, Lila held the folder under her arm and began fumbling with her watch. “Dad?” she let out before pressing the button, causing Kate to stop and raise a brow. Clint hummed to let her know he was listening. “Hold on tight.”

As she and Kate pressed the button, they vanished in thin air, leaving Clint and Natasha in the dark room, as confused as they could be. As silence surrounded them, Clint’s phone buzzed, revealing a text from Laura: _‘how about we call her Lila? That would be fun considering your love for purple, don’t you think?’_

Clint’s lips twitched into a smile.

 

 

 

 


End file.
